This invention pertains to regulators for safely reducing high pressure natural gas to pressure levels which are usable in vehicular engines. There is a need for automobile makers to provide an alternative fuels capability in a percentage of their vehicles in this decade. Concomitantly, then, there is a need for a pressure-reducing regulator which can accommodate the high pressure natural gas, which is stored in vehicular storage tanks, and reduce it down to usable pressure levels, to facilitate the production of the alternative fuels automobiles.
A majority of pressure-reducing regulators for compressed natural gas, as are known in the prior art, lack a balanced valve design. Accordingly, the output pressure can fluctuate widely, as the using vehicle consumes the fuel. To overcome this drawback, typically two of such regulators are employed to provide an acceptable regulation. Exemplary of this type of regulator is the Type P NGV Regulator, or the Type P NGV Regulator with Enviro-Cap, manufactured and sold by Modern Engineering Company, Inc. of Gallman, Miss. Other prior art regulators use pistons to sense and track the outlet pressure and control the regulator. Such pistons, which carries seals, usually O-rings, manifest a response lag arising from the frictional drag of the seals. Regulators of this latter type are offered by the Tescom Corporation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,333, issued to Albert L. Semon, on Jan. 23, 1973, for a Fluid Pressure Compensating Regulator, sets forth a valving element of square cross section, which requires that the corners of the same slidably and frictionally translate through a housing. Too, it has a diaphragm-carried insert which, when the diaphragm bottoms, has no gas flow accommodation provided therein.
It is a purpose of this invention to set forth a pressure-reducing regulator which, by itself, is usable in vehicular applications, and is of efficient and uncomplicated structure, the same having a balanced valving element arrangement which has minimal frictional drag.